Dr. Matthew Budd of the Harvard Medical School once said, Inauthenticity is our modern form of plague: it kills life. The human essence of fundamental relationships is obscured by procedures, technology, and regulations. Eight-second sound bytes drive political processes; our families become the focus of justice as the right of children to divorce their parents is affirmed; a Norwegian MIT student is punched out to death by a trio of high school students seeking excitement. We are out of touch with the historic roots that give our lives meaning.

Authentic people are hard to find.

We are living in a world where real, authentic people are hard to find. Is there any wonder that we are dying when image, appearance, and empty rituals fill the attitudes and actions of church people? Jesus recognized the deadly nature of inauthenticity among the religious of his day. He said, Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Why? Because outwardly they appeared righteous to men, but inwardly they were full of hypocrisy and lawlessness(Matthew 23:27-28).

For us to be imparters of the abundant life Jesus wants us to have, we must be real and authentic to our neighbors, family and friends. How real are you?